Human Chorionic Gonadotropin in the Plasma of Normal, Nonpregnant Subjects

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To determine whether ectopic secretion of a protein hormone can occur normally, we studied plasma from normal, nonpregnant subjects for the presence of a placental hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin. We extracted and purified this hormone from other plasma proteins. We identified the hormone in the final residue on the basis of its dose-response curves in a specific radioimmunoassay and calculated the plasma concentration after correction for losses. Because this assay is sensitive to concentrations as low as 2 pg per milliliter, human chorionic gonadotropin could be detected in the plasma of 12 of 16 blood donors; the median concentration was 19 pg per milliliter (range, <2 to 361).